106 COOKING POTS AND FOOD VESSELS. 



really give a clearer idea of their probable uses, it being more than likely 

 that these various forms of stone vessels, whatever their size or shape, were 

 not intended for a more extended range of use than as receptacles for food, 

 whether cooked or raw, and for such pigments as were in use for decorating 

 the persons of their owners. Some of the smallest examples, indeed, may 

 be simply toys for children. Whatever their use, it will be seen, on refer- 

 ence to the illustrations and to the detailed descriptions, that much care 

 has been, given to their manufacture and an unusual degree of taste exhib- 

 ited in the design of very many. 



Of a series of nearly thirty specimens collected by Drs. Yarrow and 

 Pothrock, Mr. Henshaw, and Mr. Schumacher, all but seven are made of 

 serpentine ; the others of fine-grained sandstone. 



Fig. 12, Plate VI, represents a beautifully wrought example of a bowl, 

 or, as we suppose, receptacle for food. This example is circular at the rim, 

 and gradually curves to a flattened base of very limited surface. The bot- 

 tom and sides of this bowl are of nearly uniform thickness, and the interior 

 and exterior surfaces are ecpaally well polished. The ornamentation con- 

 sists of two deeply incised lines near the rim, with an intervening space of 

 the same width. The space referred to is highly polished, and stands out 

 in bold relief, surrounded by the dulled surfaces of the incised lines. 

 There is no trace of exposure to fire on this bowl, and no special indica- 

 tions of wear or long usage, unless the slight chippings about the rim may 

 be considered as such. The measurements of this vessel are : Diameter 

 at the top, 5.2 inches ; height, exteriorly, 2.8 inches ; thickness of sides, .2 

 of an inch at the rim, and somewhat larger at the base. 



A much larger but very similar example of these bowl-shaped vessels 

 is of unusual interest, as it shows that, although badly broken, the specimen 

 was made available for some uses by carefully mending it by the use of 

 asphaltum poured into holes and connecting grooves, as already described. 

 (See Fig. 2, Plate VI.) In this specimen, however, instead of a single 

 fracture, closed by a single fastening of asphaltum, the vessel has been 

 broken into three pieces, and subsequently held together by six connecting 

 grooves and eleven perforations, showing conclusively that great value was 

 placed upon these serpentine bowls, and that the labor of making them 



